Maybe it’s time for the Vero Beach City Council to vote itself a pay raise – because, clearly, the $10,000 annual salary that currently comes with the job isn’t nearly enough to attract more of the good people we need to run for office.
As the Labor Day weekend arrived, and with a noon Friday deadline approaching, only two candidates had filed to run for the two seats up for grabs in the November election.
There was perennial candidate Brian Heady, who stunned local political observers by winning election to the council in 2009. And there was Bob McCabe, who ran for one of three City Council seats last year, only to fall short in November and then again in February’s special election.
According to City Clerk Tammy Bursick, two other potential contenders – local attorney Joe Graves and retired Air Force colonel Rey Neville – had picked up candidate’s packets but hadn’t yet filed to run.
Neville, a political newcomer, said he planned to file this week. Graves is expected to do the same, though he could not be reached for comment.
With all due respect to these men: To have so few people in this community care enough to seek a council seat is embarrassing, even shameful.
Yeah, I know, it’s a thankless job that opens you up to public ridicule and doesn’t pay nearly enough for the many hours council members are asked to invest in what’s supposed to be a part-time gig.
I know most people here in their 30s, 40s and 50s already have full-time jobs, families and other outside obligations that make it impossible for them to even consider a run.
I know it’s not practical to realistically expect many other people besides financially secure retirees to make the sacrifices necessary to serve.
But, hey, this is Vero Beach – our patch of paradise, our seaside slice of heaven, our Mayberry by the Shore – where we love to boast that this place is special, where we embrace its small-town charm and celebrate our hometown pride.
Do we really have only four people willing to step forward and do what it takes to make sure we don’t lose what we have and try to make our community even better?
Remember: The next City Council will be making some big decisions, none more pivotal than determining the fate of Centennial Place, the lagoon-front 35 acres containing Vero Beach’s former power plant and current wastewater treatment plant.
“It would be nice to have some younger people involved in making those decisions, because they’re the future of this city,” said City Councilman Harry Howle, a former mayor who served two terms but will not seek re-election.
“The only way that’s going to happen, though, is if we increase the pay for council members,” he added. “If we could get to $35,000 or $40,000, I think we could probably convince more people in their 30s and 40s to run.”
The past couple of councils were younger than most, with Howle joined by Mayor Val Zudans and Lange Sykes, who served one term before opting not to seek re-election last year. (Zudans, a politically ambitious eye doctor, has said he won’t run again, unless there’s a specific mission he wants to accomplish.)
Together with current council members Laura Moss and Tony Young, they guided the city through the sale of its electric utility to Florida Power & Light earlier this year. They also oversaw the sales of the downtown Post Office to local developer Michael Rechter and the former Dodgertown Golf Club property to the county.
However, the wise development of Centennial Place could have a greater impact on the city’s future than anything done by previous councils (see the Page 1 News Analysis regarding the city’s sewer plant).
That’s why we need the most-qualified people to make those decisions, and we can’t simply hope they run.
Serving on our City Council might not be a full-time job, but it’s not a baby-sitting gig, either. The time commitment is worth far more than $10,000 per year, before taxes.
So maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that we might have only four candidates – one who has run for public office more than 20 times – seeking the two council seats on the ballot in November.
But we should be embarrassed.